Canine Freestyle is simply dancing with dogs to music. It is a fun sport for the owners and dogs, and the audience. Freestyle is based on basic obedience training and it adds other dimensions such as tricks, music, timing, costuming, routine development and showmanship. It is a fun and entertaining way to continue training your dog. You can learn more about Canine Freestyle at World Canine Freestyle

Introduction to Freestyle

Attendees should complete Family Dog II or its equivalent before taking this class. Each week dogs and handlers will learn and practice new tricks or moves and have fun training to different music. Handlers will learn to develop simple routines and put them together with music. This is a great class for those who want to go on and compete or do demos with their dog in many different venues. It is also a great class for those who want to have fun with their dog and teach new skills.

Rally FrEe Workshop

Rally Freestyle Elements (Rally FrEe) is an exciting new sport that is lots of fun for both you and your dog. Join us to find out all about it. The Rally FrEe website (rallyfreestyle.com) describes it as follows: “Rally FrEe is a unique sport combining trick behaviors of Canine Musical Freestyle with the format of Rally-Obedience. It emphasizes the precise execution of fundamental freestyle and obedience skills while encouraging creative and novel behaviors on a Rally-Obedience style course.” Some of the unique things about Rally FrEe are that the dogs work in both right and left heel position and that each course has 4 “Free Choice” signs where you get to choose the behavior that you would like to perform. If you like Rally Obedience, you’re sure to like this. If you have thought about doing freestyle, but were concerned about choreography, Rally FrEe is a great place to start. This workshop will include learning some of the basic freestyle moves, discussing ways to make Rally moves more precise, and each team will be able to try a Rally FrEe course at the end of the session.

Freestyle Practices

If you have wondered about the sport of Freestyle and would like a chance to see some of our members practicing, come on over and take a look. Practice sessions are open to spectators - however, we ask that you do not bring your dog when you come to watch a practice. Take a look: tophatandtails.net